So, Edward took care of his angel after a very rough night. Let's see what the morning brings.

BPOV

I awoke to the sensation of soft lips brushing against my cheek, and then my forehead. A voice, his voice, murmured in my ear, and goosebumps broke out on my arms from his warm breath.

"Wake up, angel."

I shook my head and buried deeper under my duvet. An amused chuckle sounded from above me.

"You're so fucking adorable. But, I need to talk to you, Bella."

I sighed and finally opened my eyes. The lamp on my nightstand had been switched on and it revealed Edward lounging next to me, head propped on his hand, his hair sticking up in every direction. I reached up and ran my fingers through it.

"I like this look. Your hair really does have a mind of it's own, doesn't it?"

"It really does," he agreed with a smile. "Used to drive my mother nuts."

"I like it."

"I'm glad because there's not much I can do about it at this point, short of cutting it all off."

"Don't you dare!" I said with an exaggerated gasp.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, tracing his finger along my cheek.

"I did, thanks to that sedative I took." The events of the evening before flitted through my mind. I remembered waking up briefly at one point through the night, but I'd had no problems falling back asleep, snuggled up against Edward's warm body, his presence a comfort to me. "I think having you here helped as well. You kept any bad dreams away." That made him smile before his face turned serious once more.

"Eric called me a little bit ago. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

I sat up and he did the same, facing me. He took my hands in his.

"Did they find something? In the car?" I wondered.

"They did. A hair, snagged on the gear shift. He said it's a long, blond hair. Have you had any passengers recently with that kind of hair?"

I shook my head.

"No, one one besides me or Alice have been in my car for weeks, and you've seen her hair, it's super short and dark."

He nodded.

"Well, if it had just been on the outside of the car, it might be that it was just secondary transfer from someone who walked past at some point. I mean, that's still a possibility. But, since it was actually snagged around the gear shift, I'd say there's a strong chance it came from our suspect. Also, they reviewed the security tapes. It does show someone approaching your car, but not from an ideal camera angle, I'm afraid. They had a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and sunglasses so their face wasn't really visible. And they wore gloves. They did use something to jimmy open your lock, because Eric found scratches. However, and this is pretty interesting, he said everyone who saw the tape came to the same conclusion. It looks like a woman."

My eyes popped open wide.

"A woman? Really?"

"Yes. He said the way they walked, the smaller stature, the big black sunglasses, all pointed towards them being female. Can you think of anyone at all?"

I shook my head.

"Honestly, baby, I can't. I mean, I know several women with long blond hair, but none of them would have any reason to do something like this." I was totally and completely puzzled. This was just getting more and more bizarre.

"Well, to be fair, it's also possible that maybe someone hired this mystery woman to do it for them. She might not necessarily be the one who instigated this, she may have just been paid to be the delivery person," Edward said, running a hand through his hair, mussing it further. "The good news is that hair can be a very helpful piece of evidence. If the follicle is still attached, we have DNA right there. It will be run through CODIS and-"

"What's that?" I interrupted.

"It's short for Combined DNA Index System. It's a databank. When someone is sent to prison, their DNA gets entered. And in most states, including Florida, if someone is arrested for a felony or violent crime, their DNA is taken along with their fingerprints, and it gets entered. So if we have DNA from a suspect, they will run it through CODIS and see if there's a match."

"What if the follicle isn't attached?"

"Well, it's not quite as good a piece of evidence, but it would be a tool to use for microscopic comparison if we end up with a suspect in mind. It can also tell us if they have drugs in their system, if they have certain medical issues or deficiencies. It's definitely a starting point, follicle or not. Unfortunately, like Eric said yesterday, things don't work in real life the way they do in cop movies, and it can take weeks to get the results back, depending on how back-logged the lab is and how many available technicians there are."

"So, it's a waiting game at this point?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm sorry, angel. I wish there was more that could be done right now, but there just isn't. Everyone is doing their job, and a course of action has been set. They'll let us know when they find something and what the next step will be. And Eric also told me, in no uncertain terms," he said with a wry smile, "that I should be expecting a call from my captain."

"Why?"

"I'm not officially allowed to help on this case at all, given the personal relationship between you and I, and I'm sure he's going to be reminding me of that. Not that a Violent Crimes detective would normally work an animal cruelty case or auto burglary anyway, but when things get personal, people don't always make the right decisions. They take it upon themselves to do something if they feel the case isn't moving quickly enough."

"Well, you better not," I told him with a frown. "I don't want you getting in trouble."

"I won't," he assured me. "As frustrating as it is do know that someone out there did this to you, I know it will be handled properly."

Edward glanced at the clock on my nightstand and I did as well. It was just after seven-thirty.

"I need to get up," I said, stretching. "I have to meet with Alice to go over everything from the gala last night, and my Uncle Marcus is coming by at ten; he handles my investments and we meet monthly to assess them."

He nodded.

"I have a few things I gotta do this morning, but I'll be back to get you."

I grinned, so happy at the prospect of spending the weekend with this man.

Edward rose and headed towards the bathroom to get changed, and I hit the button to open the black out blinds before throwing back the covers and climbing from bed. Sunlight spilled into my bedroom and I walked over to the windows, taking in the sight of my city.

I was still very disturbed by what had happened. But, after getting some sleep, I was more clearheaded and found myself quite angry that some sicko had the nerve to do what they did. Besides the fact two innocent animals had lost their lives, there was also the matter of breaking into my car and the bloody mess left behind. I loved my little Audi, but knew I'd never be able to drive it again without thinking about what happened. I would have to go car shopping soon. Maybe I'd get a zippy little SUV. Or a convertible. Or maybe-

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, jarring me from my thoughts, and I leaned back against Edward's strong chest.

"There's coffee," he said, his lips against my temple.

I turned in his arms and looked up at him. His hair was damp and had been somewhat tamed, and I could see the shadow of his beard stubble glinting reddish gold in the sunlight. He smelled like toothpaste.

"How long have you been up?" I wondered.

"Well, I woke up around six, but didn't actually get out of bed until six-thirty. I made coffee and me and the girls enjoyed it in the living room."

I busted out laughing at that.

"Oh, you guys are besties now?"

He held up three fingers, tightly overlapping each other.

"We're like this."

I giggled

Edward wrapped his arms around my waist and I happily melted into him. I felt his lips against the top of my head, so I tilted my face up to him and he pressed a kiss to my mouth.

"Mrs. Mavis makes killer banana muffins and I have some in the freezer," I said when we parted. "Can I interest you in breakfast before you leave?"

"You can interest me in so many things, Ms. Swan. But, we can start with breakfast." He winked, and I shook my head at him.

"Meet me in the kitchen, loverboy."

Ten minutes later we sat next to each other at the bar in my kitchen, eating warmed muffins and drinking coffee. Edward had also washed and cut some strawberries while I'd been in the bathroom. It was a very tasty breakfast.

"How will you get your Jeep?" I asked as I put a few things in the dishwasher.

"Rose. She should be here soon."

"Give me just a few minutes and I'll walk you down," I told him, heading to my bedroom. I changed into a dark denim skirt, and a nude silky camisole tank with matching lacy shrug. My hair got pulled up into a quick bun, and I added just a little bit of makeup and a spritz of perfume.

When we got downstairs, I steered Edward towards the employee entrance to the parking lot. Just outside the doors, he stopped and took my hand, pulling me closer to him. We stepped over to stand underneath a tall, potted Queen palm. He faced me, both of my hands in his.

"I'll be back here at twelve to pick up you, okay?" His green eyes were so very warm as they met mine, and I smiled.

"I'll be ready. I'm really looking forward to just getting away from here. I know it might be a little unrealistic, but is it wrong that I want to be in a bubble right now? Can we concentrate on just the two of us for the rest of the weekend?" I asked hopefully.

"There's no one else I'd rather be in a bubble with," he answered with a smile, dipping his head to press a sweet kiss to my mouth. I sighed happily, opening my lips and pulling his tongue in. We kissed for long, blissful moments, unaware that someone was watching until a loud throat cleared.

"As much as I can see you're enjoying your breakfast, I brought your Jeep," an amused voice said. I jumped a little and pulled back, but Edward simply laughed and turned us around.

Rosalie Whitlock was gorgeous, no question about it. She was tall and slender with a killer body and the most beautiful violet eyes. Her blond hair was slicked back in a tight ponytail, and though I could see she didn't have a hint of makeup on, she had the most perfect, flawless skin. Her gaze was curious, but friendly, as she appraised me.

"For your information, we already had breakfast. That was just dessert," Edward said with a grin in my direction. "Bella, this is Rosalie. Rose, this is Bella."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Rosalie," I said. "I've heard a lot about you from Edward, and I'm already a huge fan of your work. His tattoos are just stunning."

"Thank you, Bella. It's nice to finally meet you as well." Her smile was warm.

"Thanks for bringing the Jeep, Rose. Do you need me to drop you somewhere?" Edward asked.

"No, uh, Emmett is actually going to give me a ride."

My eyebrows rose.

"My brother Emmett?"

"Yeah, he offered last night when I told him I'd most likely be bringing Edward his Jeep this morning."

"Oh. Well, that works out well then," I said with a smile.

I wasn't positive, but I think a faint blush climbed Rose's neck at my words.

"Yes. So, um, see ya, guys. It was nice meeting you, Bella, I really hope they catch the fucker that did that to you. Ed, Jazz said he'd catch up with ya later. Bye!"

And with that she tossed him the keys and hurried away without a backwards glance. I looked up at Edward and he was watching her with amusement.

"Oh, she so has a crush on your brother," he said with a laugh.

"Well, if he offered to give her a ride then perhaps the feeling is mutual," I said. "You did say they looked pretty close last night, huh?"

"Yeah, they did. But, I don't want to talk about whether or not your brother and my friend have the hots for each other. What I do want to do," he said, lowering his head and nuzzling the side of my throat with his lips, "Is to remind you to pack an overnight bag. You're mine for the next, oh, thirty-six hours at least, Bella Swan."

I wanted to be his for much, much longer than that.

"And Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't think I've forgotten our phone call in New York. I'm looking forward to your . . . re-telling."

I covered his mouth with mine, unable to not kiss him when he looked at me with such a deliciously wicked glint in his eye. Several long, hot minutes later, I finally pulled back.

"You have to go, or I'm never going to get everything done before you come back," I said with a groan.

He grinned and pressed another hard kiss to my mouth before striding to the Jeep and climbing in. With a wave and a honk, he drove away and I took several deep breaths, trying to calm my throbbing pulse. I had to pull myself together and deal with everything I needed to do to ensure I'd be ready for him at twelve.

We are getting closer, dear readers! Thank you all so much for continuing to read and review. I hope my little story brings at least a bit of happiness in these uncertain times.